In the Spotlight: Denver Theatres and Arenas Division, Aspen’s Winter Music Fest, and Buntport’s Tesla Progress

Libraries aren’t the only cultural institutions being scrutinized as a result of the Great Recession. A recent audit of the Denver Theatres and Arenas Division recommends a “cost-benefit analysis” of operations to find ways to increase income at venues such as the Denver Coliseum, Denver Performing Arts Complex, and Red Rocks, reports Face the State, which points to a suggestion that management of some venues be shared or outsourced. Performance venues these days are operating at a net loss and require subsidies from the city to stay in business. While outside management would mean fewer city employees, Theatres and Arenas chief Kent Rice says, “The way our agency is set up, the city does not expect us to make a profit.”

As that issue percolates, the Aspen Skiing Company has canceled a winter music festival that was originally planned for early March (via 7News). The Aspen City Council didn’t approve an application for the event until late last year, leaving too little time to book the kinds of acts that would draw decent crowds. The festival is now likely to debut in 2012.

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Meanwhile, at least one act is getting off the ground in Colorado. Buntport Theater, which is working on an innovative play about inventor Nikola Tesla for the Denver Center Theatre Company, will show its work in progress at next month’s Colorado New Play Summit at the Jones Theatre, writes The Denver Post.